Virginia has rejected a federal offer to spend more than $200,000 to build new oyster reefs in the Lafayette River, saying the city waterway is "a low-priority site" compared with others in the Chesapeake Bay.
The decision comes just weeks after Norfolk officials and environmental groups, along with state officials, announced a campaign to clean up the Lafayette and make it swimmable and fishable by 2020. Plans call for building at least 10 acres of artificial oyster reefs, among other initiatives.
In a June 3 letter, Steve Bowman, head of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, wrote that the state has too few oyster shells to use in the Lafayette and that remaining reserves are needed for building and repairing reefs elsewhere.
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